We are on December 17, 2010, the day of desperation for Mohammed Bouazizi, the vegetable seller who set himself on fire in Sidi Bouzid, when he saw “the nothing he had” seized by an almighty police, disrupting the daily rhythm of Tunisian life. It is precisely this day that brings us to this day, from new Constitution to new Constitution, from President (PR) to new President. Tunisia has been an example that reform is different from espresso coffee and popcorn. It takes time, a lot!
This reference to coffee is the expression of Habib Ben Yahia, Secretary General of the Union for the Arab Maghreb (2011), precisely in connection with the holding of the first post-Ben Ali elections in Tunisia, October 23, 2011. “Democracy is not an espresso coffee,” Tunisian Ben Yahia said in an interview with Al-Jazeera, underlining the importance of time in the whole process and also implying that it would have predictable progress and setbacks in Tunisia. These first parliamentary elections of 2011 marked the beginning of the short “Little Caliphate of Rashid Ghannouchi”, the leader in Ennahda, the Islamist-inspired party backed by the Muslim Brotherhood (IM) of “Morsi’s short Egypt” and Erdogan’s Turkey. Tunisia, as the former “central rib” of the Ottoman Empire in North Africa, represented the hope of becoming an Islamist beacon, shining its light to “military Algeria” and to a Gaddafi-hunting Libya, which was known to it would fall into chaos the next day.
Ennahda’s victory in 2011 marked the beginning of the Islamist period, which can be summarized as a period of deep division in the country, between Islamists and laymen, resulting in a Tunisian attitude of extreme reactions, a testament to the commitment of both parties to put ideas into practice. The emergence of FEMEN, a group of courageous feminists, saw them climb into bare-chested cars in open confrontation with Islamist demonstrators, who covered their eyes with their hands so as not to go to hell when they saw other people’s breasts, no they managed to knock them down or trap them from the top of the hoods of their cars, from where they were insulted and kicked, in a “heavy eroticism” that presented “bearded men and women with the real” emancipated women of Bourguiba”. The other extreme was Islamist, as they launched a policy of murdering leftist politicians, journalists and intellectuals. A list in the style of “our Easter murder”, with the difference that this was not just a bluff, as at least two political leaders of the opposition were killed at close quarters, Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi. Rashid Ghannouchi’s Ennahda, in its eagerness to gain power, had lost control of the Salafists swarming around the party who believed in “now is what it is and to be we must give fire to the Kafirs” . It is suspected, even today, that these two murders would be the first of a list drawn up by Ansar Ashariat, the defenders of Islamic law. During this period, as early as March 2012, Tunisia was the largest exporter of jihadists to the Syrian scene witnessing a “multipurpose war” and scattered interests.
2012 is thus a key year in the Tunisian journey as it prompts each citizen to deep individual reflection on what future they want to give to what during the 30 years that Habib Bourguiba, the first Tunisian PR (1957-1987), came to be known as ” the little Republic of Teachers”, moreover in the image of Salazar’s Estado Novo, whose leaders, Tunisian and Portuguese, being academics, surrounded themselves with other academics to take the project from their country to a good port, at the time when those studies was something exclusive, classic and valued. In this context, mention the curiosity that at the time of North African independence in the late 1950s, Tunisia had more graduates and bachelors than Morocco and Algeria combined. In other words, pre-Bourguiba Tunisia had already established the university as a central pillar of the nation-building process, while the aforementioned neighbors relied on the military and police for that. In fact, this was one of the first explanations of “French Tunisologists” about the reasons for this important social movement, apparently spontaneous, starting in discreet and peaceful Tunisia. Only later, along with this important local peculiarity, that of studies, another important factor came in and there was no escaping it. The Arab Spring had begun in Tunisia, which at the time was the ideal area for violently overthrowing neighboring Gaddafi. So it happened.
From constitution to constitution
A fact that enlightened me during these days of revolt and renewal was the realization that for North African politicians the processes of democratic transition in Portugal and Spain are well known, studied and, in a sense, cited as examples to follow, as they are cumulative examples of success. In this sense, there was a very fruitful exchange between Portuguese and Tunisian constitutionalists, establishing joint working groups to draft the new constitution.
Buoyed by the Portuguese example, the possibility of the new regime sliding into a Portuguese-style semi-presidentialism was debated, but was ultimately unsuccessful. They used the example of the Court of Auditors, as a preventative and oversight tool of potential corruption, a cancer that actually accelerated the way for the current PR Kais Saied, to suspend this first new constitution and draft the current one, which saw the approval of the referendum last July. An inevitable shot correction, much desired by the Democrats, despite accusations of despotism by Kais Saied. Why inevitable and desirable?
From the outset, PR Saied, also an actor/editor in 2011 drafting the new post-Ben Ali constitution, abandoned constitutional internationalism and focused on the huge internal problems that prevented the now-elected PR Saied from governing. That is, Saied focused on the “cavalist blocking forces”, which in this case were Islamist, corruptible and corruptible, not necessarily exclusive to the defenders of Islamic law. Within that Tunisian complacency arose the National Consultative Body for a New Republic, which met from January to March last year and set out the ambitions of the Tunisian vital forces. During this design process, a lot of contradictory information and misinformation was spread by the population, in the logic of Carthage realizing the popular movements. Saied inevitably wanted to satisfy the aspirations of Tunisians, trying to finally reduce the differences and rivalries between lay people and religious people. The main disinformation in this process was the announcement of a constitution that would completely purge Islam from the text, freeing Tunisia from the Arab yoke, making it even more North African and “bourgeois”. It served to realize that Tunisians are like the Portuguese, that we like masses a lot, but little priests! Excuse me, back to the question of why inevitable and desirable (this July Constitution)?
The speaker of parliament, Rachid Ghannouchi, who is also secretary general of Ennahda, the majority party in the governing coalition, did not communicate with his (coalition) partner and was not worthy of the house he presided. Continued act, the government was fired. It is in the face of this institutional degradation that Saied sees himself as providential and decides to take the matter in hand, taking the risks inherent in the accumulation of powers and the image this conveys internally and externally. Given this scenario, there was a consensus in the international community that it was not a coup d’état, but what has been called a “coup d’état” (Vincent Geisser – Institute for Research and Study of the Arab and Islamic Worlds). The idea would be to “put the house in order” within the 30 days of Article 80, appointing a presidential initiative government, which would uphold the constitution’s track record.
This he did by isolating Ghannouchi, who was suffering from a “heart condition”. This Islamist did not want to be a presidential candidate in the previous elections, because he had the conditions to win them, for the sake of, in his view, democracy, but mainly because the Islamist world had noticed the Egyptian process and realized that they would never total power, as they wanted. Ghannouchi, entrenched in this frustration, bet on what was so Portuguese “the worse the better” and as Speaker of Parliament he blocked everything he could, making life black for the PR, the government and the courts, which are now were involved in the trials of the suspects of the “Tunisian Easter Murder”. Saied had no choice but to want to be an old-fashioned PR, at least during the one-year period, between July 2021 and July 2022, the “year of cleaning up” for Tunisians, enshrining the 2022 Constitution, which is now flowing to today’s parliamentary elections, so that tomorrow Tunisia can go back to work with a democratically elected government and Kais Saied proving that this is not just another Ben Ali, but someone who took literally what the European likes to say, but then he never knows how to recognize it, because he feels the loss of control in the process and that comes down to the maxim “African solutions to African problems”. Saied had the courage to take on this role and today he does very well in the picture as he has proven to be a man of his word and not an opportunist.
Today’s election will elect 161 deputies who are at least 23 years old and have no criminal record, immediately eliminating those missing Ben Ali and Islamists involved in lawsuits referring to acts of corruption, terrorism and other crimes. PR Saied retains a significant portion of power, in the sense that he retains the future executive with government powers, however contradictory those may seem. The final test of the current PR’s “coup” will again be the participation of Tunisians in these elections, more, much more than the final result of Islamists returning to power, or a growing number of secular tendencies in the new Room.
“Democracy is not espresso coffee,” said Tunisian Habib Ben Yahia, and “the path is made by walking,” said a random Spaniard!
Political scientist/Arabist
www.maghreb-machrek.pt (under repair)
Source: DN
